Social media tactics to boost engagement: PART TWO

Social media tactics to boost engagement: PART TWO

Social media marketing and its value for branding require you as a marketer or business owner to be well apprised of the various tactics for boosting engagement over this medium.

Following on from last week’s post, here are more clever social media engagement ideas: tips and tactics that you can use to maximise the effectiveness of your social marketing campaign and encourage more shares as well as higher rates of conversion.

Solve problems

You are an expert in your field. Be an authority that consumers look to when seeking solutions to problems that fall into your field of expertise.

You can’t expect to use social media successfully if you are always asking for something from consumers (i.e. “buy this”) – you need to instead give something to your followers.

Give them your experience, your knowledge, and your expertise – not as a way of boosting your own ego, but to offer them high value, one of a kind user experiences and to cement yourself and your brand as their go-to when they seek what you have to offer.

Be concise

Social media audiences are renowned for their short attention spans.

There is always something else to scroll to, and unless you provide something captivating, they will do just that. Being concise will win over being verbose every single time.

So learn to say what you need to in as few words as possible. Use images to convey a message with even fewer words, or use video that is short and exciting to spread the word.

Like text-based content, video content that is more than a couple of minutes at most will usually result in scrolling by.

When you create a blog or other article to share (or even content on your website), be aware of its length. For SEO purposes, you need at least 300-500 words for Google to sit up and pay attention.

But for readability and engagement, you want to create blog content that is ideally in the vicinity of 500 words and no more than 1000 words. Some readers will persevere up to 1500 words, but anything longer than that will most likely, when viewed via social media, be ignored or bookmarked for a later time that never eventuates.

Use appropriate hashtags

Hashtags are very valuable for getting your online content seen.

They, when used appropriately, connect posts from all over the internet and provide structure to your place in the world of online content. A well considered hashtag lets users know that a post is relevant to a shared or trending topic.

While hashtags are supported on Facebook, they are much better suited to Instagram and Twitter.

Even then, use no more than two or three per post, and make them count. Don’t feel the need to use a hashtag for every single post and never use tags that are irrelevant.

HOT TIP: Researchers have found that for Instagram, for example, interactions for a post increase steadily up to four hashtags for a post, then decrease for posts with more hashtags.

Be aware that hashtags used on Facebook still don’t fare so well.

They are considered by many users to be spammy and to reflect blatant misuse of hashtags. Too many people using social media misunderstand the real purpose of hashtags and not only overuse them; they use tags that are simply ridiculous.

Some people love them nonetheless, but many find them annoying and off-putting. Use them indiscriminately on your personal social profile if you wish, but keep your business and brand profiles professional – and limit hashtag use to its proper purpose.

Include a call to action

When you compose sales copy, you include a call to action. You should do this on your social media posts as well.

Don’t always make it about selling! You can be inventive and creative – for example, ask “What do you think?” Or “Share this with your friends and family!” Make it fun for consumers to interact with your posts and to follow your call to action – and never, ever be pushy.

Be consistent

Your target audience will be more inclined to actively follow your page if they know what to expect from you, so keep your theme consistent.

This doesn’t mean you are always stuck providing the same type of posts each and every time, and surprising your fans in a pleasant way from time to time will keep them interested. Make sure all posts reflect your brand identity from content to tone.

Create a Facebook group

Groups on Facebook are a fantastic way to boost engagement levels.

They allow members to post comments and questions at any time and to really have their own say. Groups allow customers to better interact with each other and make connections with others who share the same niche interest.

Be an active participant in the community you have started and take time to moderate posts so that not only will the group be of high value to its community, but also so that you can avoid spam and trolling.

Express gratitude

Show your fans, followers, and customers how much you value them. Thank them for their feedback and their support.

Build a rapport with them and reward their loyalty and their positive engagement. Doing this can be as simple as responding to a comment or as valuable as providing a tangible reward of some kind (e.g. “like and share for 10% off your next purchase”).

When you respond appropriately to consumers and thank them for their comments, feedback and support, you increase their confidence in your brand – they will see your business and brand as being run by real people and they will be more inclined to convert.

Engagement…

Engagement on social media is a critical metric that you need to consider for your online business presence and your digital marketing.

High engagement rates are far more important that high numbers of page likes. Engagement turns followers and fans of your social media pages and profiles into customers.

Social media represents a unique and highly effective opportunity to strengthen consumer relationships and loyalty for your brand, to increase sales, and to generate more leads. It also elicits higher numbers of positive customer reviews and testimonials.

It spreads great word of mouth. Use the abovementioned social media engagement ideas to get the most out of your social marketing efforts.

NOTE: If you missed the first instalment to this 2-part blog series…here it is again for your convenience!

Using social media for business marketing and branding is incredibly effective, BUT… it won’t be worthwhile unless there is a high rate of engagement for your posts from social audiences and consumers.

Engagement and interaction with your social media offerings is the key to success, and you need to know how to engage audiences in a positive way otherwise you will either be completely wasting your time, or worse yet, annoying your audience.

One of the biggest current trends in social media marketing today is video. I’m sure you have noticed!

Social media video marketing is part of a powerful social strategy for Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter, and you need to put as much thought and effort into creating high value video content as you do for any other type of social marketing post.

Marketers are engaging audiences with video content more all of the time, and it is estimated that by 2019, video content will be part of the driving force behind more than 80 per cent of search engine traffic in the United States alone.

Are you on LinkedIn?

Is LinkedIn your preferred social media platform? Learn how to leverage it to get more hot leads.

Not only do we share a bunch of valuable, relative and useful info on our blogs, but we’ve got a free LinkedIn eCourse to help you get the most out of this platform especially for B2B enterprises. If LinkedIn is your preferred social media channel, take a look at this course to raise your profile, generate leads and boost your business – so LinkedIn can start working for you.

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